Details

The Tein Street Advance Z is a kit evolved from the Street Advance (SA) and Super Street (SS) kit, which itself was an evolved design from an earlier iteration. With it, they widened the dampening range to appeal to a broader audience, added corrosion resistance to the threaded section, and improved the bump-stops to improve longevity. Tein continues to develop their product line which is what makes them a leader in today's very crowded coil-over damper market segment. The only major design change with the SAZ over the SA is that the SAZ is not a re-buildable or servicable damper tube. Meaning, you can't send it in to Tein for custom valving or repair. Failures with Tein dampers are extremely rare and in the event a damper should fail or be damaged, replacement tubes are available at a reasonable cost.

The Tein Street Advance Z Damper kit is the bread-and-butter of the Tein product line. Most users looking for a spring and damper combination that offers both a compliant street ride as well as enhanced sporting for improved handling will find that the Tein Street Advance Z (often referred to as the SAZ) checks all the right boxes. Combined with springs that are conservatively chosen for increased cornering loads and management of weight transition, and adjustable damper tuning centered around tigher high-speed and moderate low-speed damping, you have a suspension system designed for the masses.

The lowering range for this single-length adjustable kit is moderate as well, being adjusted with threaded collars and spring seats. One should expect a drop that is noticeable and gives the car an aggressive stance. When adjusted within it's recommended range of 1.5" to 2.25" lower than stock, the daily usability of the car with sufficient ground clearance for most obstacles is excellent. If someone is looking for a suspension that will totally-slam their car then look to a kit with full-length adjustment, such as the Street Flex. Contact Heeltoe for consultation if you are not sure!

More on the adjustment of the height...Tein offers some of the industry's finest spring seats and locking collars. They feature flanges that prevent the wrenches from falling off the collars as you are turning. And those wrenches...some of the longest in the industry, and an ergonomic shape, which allow users get the most torque for easier adjustments. Lastly, a thin, delrin spring seat washer enables the lower seat to spin freely against the bottom of the spring. (Unless you've handled a suspension kit like this before, some of the features just mentioned may not mean much...but we promise, you'll appreciate that Tein thinks as much about the tuner as they do the tuning.)

To ensure that people are able to achieve the ride and handling balance that is to their liking, Tein provides dampening valve adjustment. 16 distinct settings (or up to 32 with EDFC installation) allow user to dial in click-perfect balance. These settings can throw off the handling of a car, but Tein's limited range and high-quality "click assemblies" take some of the pain ouf of adjusting. The clicks mostly control the rebound rate, which when slowed down enables a higher level of performance at the expense of slower response over bumps (and a little rougher ride).

The Tein SAZ does not include new upper mounts, relying on the user to swap upper mounts from the stock suspension assembly. If they are worn it may be advisable to replace these with new parts. On select applications, Heeltoe Automotive will offer an option to add new factory upper mounts to their order, enabling them to keep the factory assemblies intact.